Some pretty questionable political entities have been talking of the parliament and constitution lately. Barring a few exceptions almost all such talk is shrouded in rhetoric and completely bereft of facts. And it seems that those better at rhetoric succeed in creating a favourable impression about themselves and their party.

It is always better to list all that is available on record and let facts speak for themselves. There are many people who have lived through such events, like the emergency. There are many who have seen the constitution being subverted in their state like the recent set of events in Karnataka. This open thread seeks to reach out to all those who have seen this happen and also to all those who know such instances. Please pitch in with all that you know in the comments section. It is open to all. Please list the event by date, location, who or which party was alleged of subverting the constitution and what was the result in terms of the impact and how it shaped the subsequent course of our democracy. References are highly recommended and will add credibility when listing such events. Your contributions will help me in collating facts and listing them for readers so they can make up their own mind rather than fall for high decibel rhetoric. It will also help validate or invalidate political rhetoric. So please pitch in.

38th amendment which barred judicial review of the presidential proclamation and the laws made by a discredited Government in contravention of the fundamental rights.

1975

4

39th amendment which barred the Supreme Court from hearing the election petition against the Prime Minister.

1975

5

Article 356 violation. Newly elected Janata Party dismissed all Cong State Governments on the basis that 'they lacked people's mandate.' Janata Party / its ally CPM won all the state elections held subsequently.

1977

Girish L

6

42/44th amendments. Provided primacy to Directive Principles over Fundamental Rights (later struck down by Supreme Court). And coming up with a Uniform Civil Code is a Directive Principle!

1977

Girish L

7

Article 356 violation. Congress which won LS elections did the same. It won in all states except Tamil Nadu. But interestingly Cong and DMK LS MPs in TN did not resign!

1980

Girish L

8

Article 356 violation. Governor Ram Lal in AP. Engineered by Congress chiefly by their then General Secretary Rajiv Gandhi. Final outcome: Assembly dissolved and people stepped in with a mandate for propriety.

1984

Girish L

9

Article 356 violation. Governor Jagmohan in Kashmir. Engineered by Congress, also by their then General Secretary Rajiv Gandhi.

1984

Girish L

10

Article 356 violation. Congress dismissed Karnataka govt of Janata Party. But lost the election to the state assembly. Again Cong MPs from Karnataka did not resign.

National Advisory Council – I from 2004 – 2006.
National Advisory Council – II from 2010 – present.

NAC – I created the illusion that it “Advisory”. But the operating and invisible word there was “Authority”. NREGA proposed by NAC – I was accepted without any changes by PM and his cabinet. The power center shift to 10 Janpath was quite evident!

NAC – II is yet to get its FSB going but I guess its just a matter of time. FSB, PCV, Lokpal all aimed at creating parallel authorities subverting and overriding constitutional authorities

Enough documentation all over internet. Several blog posts detailing the same on CRI itself!

http://twitter.com/manohar_sram Manohar Seetharam

If we manage to get authentic cases , establish which feature / article of the constitution is violated we can take it to wiki. I feel this issue deserves to be escalated beyond the comments section.
For eg : The Indo-Bangla land swap deal as it exists is in violation of Article 1 and first schedule of the constitution. There is a SC order and a precedent to back it up. See here : http://t.co/FBsm6vuk.

This incident which I personally witnessed is the Coimbatore bomb blast that rocked the city on Feb 14th 1998 and killed about 60 people. Al Umma, a muslim fundamentalist organization had carried out the blasts. Later investigations revealed that Abdul Nasser Madani of PDP, Kerala had links with the suspects of the blast and was arrested by the police on March 31st 1998.

The Congress and the Left which had a majority in the Kerala assembly passed a unanimous resolution on 16th March 2006 to release Madani just to appease the Muslims – electoral strategy (as the elections were in april-may 2006) .

Of course, there will be many more such incidents where Congress has destroyed and will continue to destroy the constitution for its political gains in the name of “Secularism”

http://twitter.com/GirishLN Girish L

Article 356!

Use of the Constitutional Position of Governor to subvert (constitutionally) elected state governments. There are many instances. Three are recounted here:
1. Ram Lal AP in 1984. Engineered by Congress chiefly by their then General Secretary Rajiv Gandhi. Final Outcome: Assembly Dissolved and People stepped in with a mandate for propriety.
2. Jagmohan, Kashmir, 1984: Engineered by Congress, also by their then General Secretary Rajiv Gandhi. Outcome: Disastrous chain of events, very well known
3. Romesh Bhandari, UP 1998: Suo Moto intervention by Governor, hoping profit Congress / pro Congress forces. Failed – as President KR Narayanan intervened to correct damage.

Three other instances:

1. 1977: Newly elected Janata Party dismissed all Cong State Governments on the basis that ‘they lacked people’s mandate.’ Janata Party / its ally CPM won all the state elections held subsequently.

2. 1980: Congress which won LS elections did the same. It won in all states except Tamil Nadu. But interestingly Cong and DMK LS MPs in TN did not resign!

3. 1985: In continued tradition Congress dismissed Karnataka govt of Janata Party. But lost the election to the state assembly. Again Cong MPs from Karnataka did not resign.

Mercifully this practice was given up and the Supreme Court laid out strict norms for invoking Article 356

http://twitter.com/GirishLN Girish L

42 nd (also referred as 44th) Constitutional Amendment. (was it an amendment or total subversion?)

One of the key amendments effectively provided primacy to Directive Principles over Fundamental Rights (later struck down by Supreme Court). And coming up with a Uniform Civil Code is a Directive Principle!

Another glaring subversion in that exercise – The preamble was amended to include ‘Secular’ but the wise men of those days chose not define Secularism. Consequently a key ‘defining’ element of the Constitution viz in its Preamble is undefined and is interpreted to suit everyone’s convenience. Plenty of negative consequences from this!

http://twitter.com/straighthindu straighthindu

thanks ..great effort to start a process ..i am deviating a bit from said title but this is closely related so posting here..this 1 says const itself is wrong since not a/c to present situation.
this article says how article 30 of indian const itself is violative of UN charter. and how it is being used to subvert the basic rights of hindus and indian constituttion by converting hindus to christianity… http://www.eurasiareview.com/26022011-religious-apartheid-in-modern-india-transforming-a-civilisation/

http://twitter.com/prashanthkpp Prashanth K.P.

Great initiative. Please consider:-

ARTICLE 370 that restricts citizens from other Indian States and Kashmiri women who marry men from other States from purchasing / owning land or property in J&K?

Right to Freedom of Religion, covered in ARTICLES 25,26,27&28 provides ‘religious freedom’ to all citizens of India and emphasizes, “ALL RELIGIONS ARE EQUAL BEFORE THE STATE & NO RELIGION SHALL BE GIVEN PREFERENCE OVER THE OTHER”! How, then, does the Minority Act come into force?

Thanks. JAI HIND.

Anonymous

The Constitutional First Amendment passed on June 18 1951 was intended among other things to place “reasonable restrictions” on the freedom of speech defined in Article 19. It was moved by Jawaharlal Nehru.

Please also note that there are prescribed minimum qualifications for appointment even at the lowest cadres of government employment but appointment to these extra-constitutional bodies do not have any. This means that a government can appoint anybody to them purely based on the whims and fancies of the people in power.